Robot creates graffiti sketches of toilet users

It’s not uncommon to see graffiti in public toilets, but how often is the graffiti created by robots? Artists Patrick Tresset and Nanda Khaorapapong have developed a robotic installation that sketches visual representations of toilet users.

Located in the ticket hall of the Watermans Art Centre in Brentford, London, Ladies & Gents is a robotic drawing machine that depicts toilet users. Every time a new person enters the public lavatory, the robot aims to capture that user’s physicality (as opposed to an identifiable likeness) and draw it in a graffiti style. The robot bases its drawings on a silhouette image captured in the bathroom (but not actually in the cubicle!).

The software then computes different measurements of the silhouette to influence the shape of the stylised sketch, which is created with a robot arm holding a pen. Once the sketch is completed a second arm then comes in and wipes away the drawing before the arm starts all over again.

The project aims to challenge the stereotypes of the standard gender signs that appear on bathroom doors.

Tresset honed the technology working on the AIKON Project which aims to use computational techniques to examine the activity of drawing. The project, which he co-directs with Goldsmiths’ Professor of Computing Frederic Fol Leymarie, explores how artists can draw with immediately recognisable styles. Ladies & Gents uses the AIKON software to give the robot artistic flair.

Tresset told Wired: “My PhD research is trying to understand how style emerges when you sketch from reality, so I build software and robotics that simulate sketching.” All of the sketches are filmed and automatically posted onto a central blog.

The installation is part of the Unleashed Devices exhibition, which showcases DIY, hacking and open source projects by artists who incorporate technology into their work. The exhibition continues until 22 October.